Pakistanis displaced by fighting in "dire need"

By Mian Saeed-ur-Rehman

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Authorities in northwest Pakistan are urgently seeking millions of dollars to help up to 300,000 people who have fled from fighting between government forces and militants.

The displaced people are one more problem for a coalition government riven by disputes and grappling with mounting militant attacks and a sagging economy.

Pakistani troops launched an offensive against militants in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border early this month. The region is a haven for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

More than 200 people, most militants but including some civilians, have been killed in the fighting in which fighter jets and attack helicopters have pounded militant hideouts in the mountains.

Security forces issued warnings for people to leave before they began the offensive, and many heeded it, pouring out of the region packed in pick-up trucks or on foot.

Most of the displaced went to stay with friends or family in safer parts of the northwest but a senior provincial official said many were now turning up at relief centres set up in schools and at tent camps looking for help.

"It's a serious problem because as of now roughly 300,000 people have come out of Bajaur and many of them who were living with relatives are now shifting to camps," provincial relief commissioner Jameel Amjad told Reuters on Monday.

The provincial government urgently needed $13 million to help the displaced, he said.